Morning journal and courier., 1887-07-02

out an empty, but there is always fiat car, |
oil car or some open car that you can ride
on"
'fDo many people travel that way.'
"Well, I should say so. There was at
least ten every train between here and
Frisco, and saw lots of men at every juno
ton who were travelling that way. Why, |
that don't care about putting ON
style travels that way now. Every freight
that comes in and goes out of this city car
ries somebody travelling on short fare"
How much did your trip from Frisco
cost yous"
'sWell, started with fourteen dollars and
I've got three dollars left yet. rm going
now to get washed UP and put on clean
shirt, SO I can get to work somewhere"
The Torpedo Experiments at Ports
mouth.
from the London Tmes.J
The torpedo experiments against the Re-
slstance were resumed at Portsmouth yester- |
day afternoon. when the venerable ironclad
suffered some rough, not to say shameful, |
treatment at the instigation of Captain |
Long and his Vernon staff; but everything |
is considered fair in war. As the expert
ment was understood to be the last of the
second series, and was fully expected to |
have a sensational termination, a consider
able number of interested spectators were
attracted to the scene in Fareham Creek, |
including d number of photographers, anna
teur and professional, who hoped to catch
and perpetuate the dying throes of the
brave old ship. For some time before the |
impending convulsion occurred all eyes
were riveted upon the object and as there
was nothing to inform an observer outside
the ring of officials when the supreme mo-
ment had arrived, the probability is that
the artists were too startled by the shock
to attend to their cameras. The torpedoists
resorted to severe measures yesterday, but
with distinctly useful purpose in view,
having bound the ship hand and feet, SO to
speak, in such a way that her name be-
came a solecism They exploded ninety
five pounds of gun-cotton twenty feet be-
low the water and in contact with her
double bottom. This amount of explosive
represents the full charge of the old pat
tern sixteen-inch Whiteheads, but the
hulk was for prudential reasons moored
close to a mud bank, and the water
| was consequently much too shallow to al
low of a locomotive torpedo being set to
| run at the required depth, a fixed charge
was lashed fore aud aft against the bottom
| plating of the ship and electrically explo-
| ded from No. 95 torpedo boat.
| In previous experiments this year the
| ironelad was attacked on the port side,
| which had been specially strengthened for
| the occasion, and the result, as we have
pointed out, was victory for the defence
| Yesterday the starboard side was selected
| for attack in order that comparison might
be instituted with the effect produced IN
1
iment. Last year in the latter the
| double bottom was filed with coal, and af-
| ter the charge, which was lashed against
the ship in the same way, had been explo
ded, it was found that the bilge keel had
| been shivered for length of twenty feet,
while the lower plating had been much
| bulged above the bilge keel. Four strakes
of the skin plating extending up to the ar
NOR shelf had also been forced inwards
and fractured where they crossed the lon
gitudinal frames. They had parted in the
middle for a distance of eight feet, while
some of the butts had been opened SO that
gashes two or three inches wide appeared be-
| tween them. The coal had been pulYerized
and scattered in all directions and other in
| ternal damage inflicted. Nevertheless the
| water-tight bulkheads remained intact, and
| by confining the influx of water to single
compartment SO much buoyancy was pre-
served that though the ship heeled over to
starboard and was MANNED, she remained
afoat and might have continued to fight her
guns, provided always that no injury had
been sustained by her machinery point
| which these experiments do not touch. Grip
| pied, however, as she was, it was thought at
| the time land the probability was strength
ened by subsequent examination of the ship
in dock) that the coal instead of being pro-
lection to the double bottom had in reality
| proved a source of weakness by receiving the
energy of the explosion from the outer pla-
ting and communicating it to the inner pla-
ting and SO distributing it throughout the
| submerged portions of the hulk. Were this
| reasoning just, it will be seen at once that
| by packing the stations with coal the essen
tial purpose of double bottom, which ia to
keep the ship afieat by means of the inner
skin after the outer skin is injured, was viii
lated The question was sufficiently impor-
tant to demand an experimental solution,
hence the raison d'etre of the present de-
monstration. The dolble bottom, which is
| oh SvlrO nd -1oIf foof
! sequently kept empty, and the torpedo
| placed in immediate contact with it in such
manner that, being overhung by the con-
tour of the hull, the ship would feel the full
, force of the upward as we'll as the lateral en-
, ergy of the charge. On other accounts the
Importance of the experiment was obvious,
for although it had been ascertained that tor
!. pedo nets were capable of protecting battle
ship from the bursts of the heaviest loco
, | motive and outrigger charges, it might hap
| pen of course that the nets would be rent
; or displaced by shell fire or swept away by 6
| grazing ram, even attacked by a double
. torpedo, the second passing through the
; | gashes made by the explosion of the first in
) any case.
1t was of urgent necessity that the effect
! of torpedo bursting in immediate contact
With ships bottom should be practically
and clearly determined. The charge yester-
day was fired Just before five o'clock in the
. wake of the boilers, and it was soon per-
, ceived that something of fatal character
l | had taken place from the appearance of coal
dust sweeping up through the hold The re-
, port had not the dull boom to which the
spectators had become accustomed. Instead
| of this the gun cotton exploded with sharp
angry, whistling noise, while the manner il
l | which the mud was churned up showed that
| the force of the re@ound was terrific. The
| ship lifted bodily near the stern, after which
it was ssen to leisurely heel over to starboarc
! | some eight or ten degrees, and finally repose
S though not until the tide fell, upon the mud
! | The old hulk had been mortally wounded a
4 last. A complete knowledge of the disaste
| which has overtaken her will not be obtained
| until a careful investigation has been mad,
= | of the hull in dock. But from hasty ex
ploration which was conducted on board, i
! | was evident that the shot had not only dislo-
Gated the inner plating of the double bottom
, | but had penetrated the bunker compartment
} | stored as it was with coal, that the water
tight doors and compartments had ceased
| to operate, and that water was flowing intt
Q the hull through hundred crevices. TC
! such an extent was this the case that
= though a strong working party was a
. deemed useless to attempt to free the shiI
9 of water until her gashes had been tempo
rarily closed from outside. When this ha
been done she will be pumped out anG
| brought into dock for careful examination
| From what has been said it will be seer
q that, while the explosion of ninety-fv,
9 pounds of gun cotton in actual contact las
4 November simply crippled the Resistance
L the explosion of like charge at the samt
spot, and under approximately the sam
conditions, has in this instance not simpl,
. disabled, but really sunk the ship. TIL
firing was witnessed by, among others, tn
= director of naval construction and severa
I I members of the intelligence department
: ao,n Oc'I JOSEPH
y | EIJuL4S - made a good point TO
y sz~ PHARAOH
+ bSSSs$ when he cornered Egyptia
4 Fl1nnaa ,roc